Online Personals Watch: News on the Online Dating Industry and Business

Match Group Q1 Results - Revenue up 20%, New CEO

MATCH GROUP - Total Revenue grew 20% YOY to $799M. Operating income was $208M, an increase of 10% YOY. Payers increased 13% to 16.3M, up from 14.4M in the prior year quarter. Tinder Direct Revenue grew 18% YOY, driven by 17% payers growth to 10.7M. All Other Brands collectively grew revenue by 22% YOY driven by 14% RPP growth and 7% payers growth to 5.6M.

Key points from Match Group's letter to shareholders:

• Match Group CEO Shar Dubey is stepping down. She will remain as a director and advisor to the company, and Bernard Kim will resume his role as CEO.
• Match Group has published its 2nd annual Impact Report to share its progress on social, environmental, and governance initiatives.
• In Japan, Tinder launched a co-marketing campaign with Netflix for the dating reality TV show Love is Blind: Japan.
• Tinder Coins, its in-app virtual currency, is on track to launch globally this summer.
• Hinge is on track to launch in its first non-English speaking market, Germany, in Q2.
• Hinge is on pace to more than 10x revenue from 2019 to 2022.
• Match, Meetic, Pairs, and POF all successfully leverage tech features from Hyperconnect into their products.

See the top news on Match Group

'Single Shaming': Why People Judge Singles

BBC - Asking why someone is 'still' single and assuring them they'll 'find their person soon' may seem like thoughtful, even sensitive, ways to check in on single friends. However, these simple phrases constitute 'single shaming' - and they're likely to be more harmful than helpful. Data from a survey by dating service Match, shows 52% of 1K single UK adults reported experiencing single shaming "since the start of the pandemic", likely due to the increased focus on whom people could rely on during lockdowns. And even though 59% said they were "content with their relationship status", they still were the target of intrusive questions. Match asked about the common "shaming phrases" single people have heard from others, and 35% said they were told "you'll find someone soon". 29% heard "you must be so lonely", while 38% reported general pity over their relationship status. Bumble's research from October 2021, showed that 53% of Bumble users surveyed "realized that it's okay to be alone for a while", thanks to the pandemic.

by Jessica Klein
See full article at BBC

See the top news on Match.com
See the top news on Bumble

Blast From the Past - Match.com Began Screening Users Against Sex Offender Registry, in 2011

OPW - TRUE was the first sizable company to offer background checks back in 2004. Match then offered them but did not publicize the fact, starting in 2011. Background checks are more complete and more up-to-date in digital form now. Also, verification technology has advanced. See news from 2011 here, along with a very interesting industry commentary thread.

Courtland Brooks is working with three best-in-class tools that are worth of your attention.

1. RealMe - Background checks, now available beyond USA. "Protect your users from bots and fraud."
2. FaceTec - 3D face matching and liveness checking and age checks.
3. OneRep - Removes people's private information off Google and scrubs their profile from 100+ sites.

Which Dating Apps Got the Most Press Coverage Last Year?

OPW - Last year, we mentioned 281 internet dating industry brands in 1,066 posts. Although Match Group and its brands are clearly dominating this list, Bumble takes first place this time, even though only by one post. Here is the full list of companies with the most press coverage for last year.

1. Bumble (131 posts)
2. Tinder (130 posts)
3. Match Group (96 posts)
4. OkCupid (43 posts)
5. Hinge (42 posts)
6. Match.com (35 posts - shared)
7. Grindr (35 posts - shared)
8. The Meet Group (31 posts)
9. Blued (23 posts)
10. Spark Networks (22 posts)

See the full post at Courtland Brooks Blog

Match.com & Metaverse

PROTOCOL - Match Chief Product Officer Dushyant Saraph explains why VR could be the next big thing in dating.

by David Pierce
See full article at Protocol

See the top news on Match.com

Dating Apps Join Forces for Valentine's Vaccination Push

ADWEEK - Tinder, Ourtime, Match, OKCupid, Hinge, Plenty of Fish and Grindr are promoting vaccinations to their users. Ahead of Valentine's Day, the apps have allowed users to display vaccination badges and stickers on their dating profiles to advertise their Covid-19 status to increase their chances of finding a match. Data from Hinge has claimed that its users who share their vaccination status on dating apps receive 30% more matches than those who don't. OKCupid has seen ~1M of its users add a badge stating "I'm Vaccinated" to their profile pages, while Grindr also claims that the badge is among its three most popular.

by Stephen Lepitak
See full article at AdWeek

Match Group Financial Results - 2021 Revenue Just Under $3B

MATCH GROUP - Total Q4 Revenue grew 24% YOY to $806M. Operating income was $232M, up 9% YOY. Payers increased 15% to 16.2M, up from 14.2M in the prior year quarter. Tinder Direct Revenue grew 23% YOY driven by 18% Payers growth to 10.6M and RPP growth of 4%. All Other Brands collectively grew Direct Revenue 26% YOY, driven by 16% RPP growth and 9% Payers growth to 5.7M. In 2021, Match Group's Total Revenue was just under $3B with operating income of $850M. Tinder generated ~$1.7B in Direct Revenue in 2021, up 22% over 2020. Hinge produced $525M of Direct Revenue in 2021, achieving a 91% YOY growth rate. Hyperconnect saw better performance in December compared to the preceding months. Several Match Group brands have begun to leverage Hyperconnect's technology. Meetic opened online video cafes, and Match is offering 1:1 video chat on its app. Pairs and POF intend to leverage Hyperconnect's tech into their apps in early 2022.

See full article at Match Group website

See the top news on Match Group

Match Prediction - What Will Dating Look Like in 2022?

CW33 - Rachel DeAlto, chief dating expert at Match, joined the Morning After to share what to look for when on the dating scene this year.

by Tyler Manning
See full article at CW33

See the top news on Match.com

Match and Candace Bushnell Team up to Help Singles Find Love in 2022

PR NEWSWIRE - Match has partnered with Candace Bushnell, international best-selling author and the OG Carrie Bradshaw, to help Match members find love during dating's peak season. Starting January 2, known as 'Dating Sunday', Candace will be overseeing Match's new Expert Picks feature. With Expert Picks, members will take a quiz to opt-in to receiving hand-picked matches from the Match Experts team, and Candace herself will be personally dropping in to deliver matches.

See full article at PR Newswire

See the top news on Match.com

Match.com Brings Back the Human Touch

WALL STREET JOURNAL - From online dating to social media, algorithms are getting more assistance from humans. Since February, Match Group has been testing a human matchmaking layer to its namesake Match app and will provide two handpicked matches for users willing to pay $4.99 a week. The pilot involves a 50-member team who have been trained as dating coaches by the company. Match said ~30% of its members have already opted in for the feature. Users of the feature were eight times more likely to match - or mutually like one another - with an expert pick versus without the service, Match said.

by Laura Forman
See full article at Wall Street Journal

See the top news on Match.com

Match Introduces Human Matchmaking

WALL STREET JOURNAL - For $4.99 a week Match dating experts will go through a user's answers to four questions and pair them. A 50-member team, trained as dating coaches, will select two profiles for participating members each week, drawing from the same algorithm-generated pool Match provides. Questions include, what a person would change about their dating life, and what sort of person a user gravitates toward. "The company created the feature because, for some singles, the pandemic has added a degree of urgency to finding a long-term relationship," said Amarnath Thombre, CEO of Match Group Americas. "People have had enough time to reflect," "Traditional matchmaking services are costly, starting in the thousands of dollars for just a few months. But these services are worth it to customers who don't have the time to sort through candidates on apps," said Tammy Shaklee, founder/matchmaker of H4M, an LGBTQ matchmaking service.

by Ann-Marie Alcántara
See full article at Wall Street Journal

Mark Brooks (owner of matchmaker.com): Fascinating stuff, but I think calling this matchmaking is an offense to the matchmaking industry. $5 a week may well be a scalable price-point, but I don't think this service does justice to the humanity of the service matchmakers provide. The whole point of (quality) matchmaking is to get deep into the person, council and coach them, and provide custom advice to the individuals, with occasional appropriately sugar-coated but tough feedback. Match's service appears to be a commitment vehicle. I don't quite see how this service quite passes muster as matchmaking, even as a minimum effective dose. Let's see. Looks like the opposite end of the spectrum to the matchmaking service eHarmony introduced and experimented with years ago.

See the top news on Match.com
See the top news on H4M

Tinder and Match Asking Users to Urge Senators to Pass Violence Against Women Act

THE HILL - Match, Tinder, OkCupid, BLK, Chispa and Plenty of Fish, all of which are part of Match Group, have prompted their users to send an email to their senators "with one click," urging them to support the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. The Violence Against Women Act, originally enacted in 1994, lapsed in 2019 and has not been reauthorized since. The bill would provide grants to state and local governments for programs addressing domestic abuse, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking, in addition to further narrowing the so-called boyfriend loophole to prohibit dating partners convicted of domestic violence or abuse from buying or owning guns. Current law only restricts gun purchases for spouses or formerly married partners who were convicted of abuse or are under a restraining order.

by Mychael Schnell
See full article at The Hill

See the top news on Match Group

Match.com Study: Singles Are Reevaluating Dating and Sex During the Pandemic

USA TODAY - According to Match's 11th annual Singles in America study, a survey of ~5K individuals in the U.S., singles are focused on intentional dating instead of casual relationships. Helen Fisher, a senior research fellow at the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University and chief science advisor at Match, said that it's a "historic time" for a "dating reset." "(Singles) really want emotional maturity," Fisher said. 11% of singles say they "want to date casually," compared to 62% who said that they "seek more meaningful, committed relationships." Meanwhile, 65% said they want a relationship within the next year.

by Marina Pitofsky
See full article at USA Today

See the top news on Match.com

Podcast: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

WID - In celebration of Global Diversity Awareness month, Women In Dating sponsored a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion podcast featuring Dayo Akinrinade (Africlick), Ana Kirova (Feeld) and Alexis Luerssen (Match) to discuss the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion within, and how their companies are offering equal opportunities to everyone.

See full article at Women in Dating website

Match Releases Vaccination Data on the U.S. Single Population

PR NEWSWIRE - Match has released initial findings from two key themes of its forthcoming 11th annual Singles in America study. The data reveals that vaccination status has become of paramount importance to a vast majority of singles today, with 58% reporting it's the most important issue when it comes to dating a potential partner, more so even than traditional deal breakers like political affiliation (53%) or religion (43%). 73% of singles report they are vaccinated (compared to 64% of the general U.S. population) and 2 in 3 singles say they want their dating partners to be vaxxed.

See full article at PR Newswire

See the top news on Match.com